…. stop filling my river!! My beach is gone, under three feet of water and the river is slowing rising to the level of my retaining wall. Arghhhhh! The rock across the river, visible Sunday …

… is now gone.

Oh, I’m not complaining (okay, yes I am) and the sound of the rain at night would be peaceful if I wasn’t worried about my Mustang drowning in the driveway. But enough already.

Thanks to Northeast Maintenance (Hey Chris, this is a plug for you!) my gutters are nice and clean. Downspout extensions, installed by möi, are doing the job of directing flow away from my foundation and, ultimately, my basement.

The dehumidifier is picking up the slack, removing any water seeping through the cracks in the foundation. So far I haven’t needed the sump pump, so I guess things could be worse. But, come on Mom Nature, enough already.

Since I’m on the subject of moms, Mama came by yesterday, before the rain started. She was very thin. Hmmmmmm, maybe??? She and Daddy copulated about two weeks ago and now he’s MIA and she’s thin. Perhaps there are eggs, albeit soggy eggs, somewhere on the Concord River. Of course, according to several websites I visited, copulation doesn’t necessarily trigger egg laying. Sometimes, copulation is just for fun. Who knew ducks had such a wild side?

The last time I saw her with Daddy was this past Thursday. They visited at dusk for a snack before retiring for the night.

I know it’s silly but I worry about them. I don’t have enough to worry about, right? Water rising, 19 year old son, rose fungus. And it’s not like they needed me in the past. The Concord River has been flowing and flooding for hundreds of years and thousands of ducks have mated, raised young, and died over those years. I’ve grown fond of Mama and Daddy though. And, I must admit, I miss their visits. So, wherever they are, I hope they’re safe.

New bird sighting! A rose breasted grosbeak visited the feeder Sunday. It’s been 10 years since I saw this type of bird. So striking with his flashes of red, black and white. Yeah for me.

Now for the “I’m surprised you didn’t kill yourself” portion of the blog. My nephew gave me a compound miter saw as a house warming present. He is a PEACH, that nephew of mine. We spent over a hour doing a tutorial on safety and operation. Watch the fingers and other good stuff. “Got it! I’m good, thanks.” Next day, time to run it solo. I was a little nervous, having grown fond of my fingers over the past 50+ years. So, instead of holding the wood because I was too afraid to have my fingers within 10 inches of the blade, I just let the wood rest freely. I took a deep breath and lowered the blade. The cut was clean and easy. That wasn’t so bad. However, my measurement was off by a 1/4″. Again, still too nervous to hold the wood, I rested it on the bed of the saw and, once again, lowered the blade.

Well, according to Wikipedia, a projectile is any object “projected into space (empty or not) by the exertion of a force. Although any object in motion through space (for example a thrown baseball) may be referred to as a projectile, the term more commonly refers to a ranged weapon.” Yup, that about sums it up. That piece of wood shot across the basement at the speed of light. In fact, I think it actually vaporized at one point! The saw didn’t fair too well either, ending up with a broken blade, cracked guard and a large chuck of the metal ruler on the floor. Me? I screamed.

There is a happy ending to this story, however. I brought the saw back to the large, home improvement store and explained what had happened. I admitted everything. After the tool department manager stopped laughing, he exchanged the saw and I promised to memorize the manual. He also suggested I buy a pair of safety goggles and some life insurance.

I have a shadow every time I work in the gardens. A robin has figured out when I move around the grounds with my tools, worms appear. I’m reminded of the robin in The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. Cool

I loaded my first YouTube video today. The bathroom faucet has been leaking and, according to Fung Shui, leaks mean financial drain. Of course, I’ve been spending like a drunken sailor since moving in, but, I’ve also been hit with some unforeseen bills. So, after a search for a YouTube video that would explain how to fix the problem (not), and a visit to my local hardware store, I took care of the problem myself. Check it out: http://youtu.be/XuvLlOfmjQs